Monday, September 16, 2002
Bengals get helmet penalty
Houshmandzadeh pulls Rudd blunder
By Mark Curnutte mcurnutte@enquirer.com
The Cincinnati Enquirer
CLEVELAND - For the second consecutive week, a player took off his helmet during a game at Cleveland Browns Stadium and cost his team 15 yards.
Last week, Browns linebacker Dwayne Rudd took off his hat and threw it in celebration, giving the Kansas City Chiefs the chance to win the game on a last-play field goal.
Bengals wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh
was the culprit Sunday, removing his helmet late in the fourth quarter to adjust his chinstrap, which had been pushed up to his nose on a tackle.
Houshmandzadeh was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct for taking off his helmet.
“I didn't know I would get a penalty,” he said. “(Last week) that play was still going. Our play was dead. So it's totally different, but that's the rules.”
Houshmandzadeh didn't play in the first half because of a lingering groin injury, but he had five second-half receptions for 58 yards, the best of any wide receiver.
“It pretty much felt the same all game,” he said of the injury. ”I knew going into the game. I thought I would play here and there throughout the game. But everybody was feeling pretty good in the first half, and I didn't get in.”
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Bengals get helmet penalty
